San Dimas VS So Cal

[samiam]

To me the whole split coil option on the So-Cal's and SD's makes no sense. Sure, it adds some versatility to them but that alone goes against what a 'superstrat' is supposed to be: a stripped down rock machine.

[mantis]

I'm not real into the Distortions especially compared to the JB / 59 combo. The 59 is much sweeter and fuller sounding to me vs the Distortion. The Bridge JB has a tighter lower bottom end and more crunch the fizz like the Distortion does. When you play one then the other the Distortion adds this fizzy sound that doesn't sound that good. I love the Pick guard look as it reminds me of my 1985 Charvel Model 3a I had brand new back in the day.
I might experiment with different pickups in this guitar and remove the 6 pack of sound. I prefer the wiring of the 2015 and older models which has the Middle position on the 3 position switch and now blade has both Humbuckers on. Currently the wiring only allows split coils with he volume up or down which to me sucks balls. I would be very cool with the 6 pack of sound if the down position had the Both hum buckers on in the middle. Then the 6 pack would make perfect sense to me. Up would be all single coil action.
Charvel are you reading this?

[samiam]

I recently acquired my first SD (MIJ) which I love, but did have a LTD alder-bodied strat type guitar with a SD Distortion in it and to me it was a bit brighter/harsher than I was expecting. Previously I had the Distortion p/u in a Les Paul, student Rhoads (alder/maple), and a basswood super strat and it sounded terrific in all three of those but failed to impress in the strat. I ended up putting a JB in there and loved it.

All that to say I agree with Texas Crude above; I think pickups aside, the differences between the So Cal and SD are mainly aesthetics (i.e. do you prefer a pickguard or not?)

[Texas Crude]

I haven't seen the current Mexican guitars, but as for the past Jap SD and So Cal...yes the pups are different but easily changed if desired. I imagine they feel and play about the same, all other things being equal. The aesthetic is the main thing to me. Both are cool though.

The Jap SD I had sounded great with the JB. I never gave the neck pup any use. That said, my current favorite is the Duncan 59 bridge pup, in the bridge. The distortion pups do sound nice, but I think the 59 and other PAF style pups are worth a look.

[mantis]

Hello all,
I own a few San Dimas guitars and one So Cal. They sound very different due to the factory Pick ups. The 59 and JB is a fantastic combo that can play anything especially the 2016 models with the Split could feature now.
The So Cal as we all know come with Distortions, they have a sound all of their own and very different then the 59 and JB. With the 6 pack of sound ,you can get some different things going on.

So what model do you like better and why?